Process and apparatus for manufacturing malto-dextrine



April 18, 1939. l.. N. HARTOG A 2,155,374

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING MALTo-DEXTRINE Original Filed July 9, 1935 i INVENTOR Loua's Hara? --l- :i ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 18, i t I l t UNITED srArEsPATENTOF'FCET Pnocnssmmmrusrox iiniivuiui'o-` t y monstro-Examine Louis N. Hartog, New York, `N.\Y. Y

continuation application soi-isi No, 30,415, July 9, 1935., This application June 2, `1938,

n schim. ici. 12v-sii Y The present' application is a continuation oi whole,'themaltodext`rine may.` accordingto -itsf'zf Vmy co-pending application, Serial No. 30,475, dextrose content, `be less fermentable thanfthe iiled July l9, y1935. v e Y ,syrup fromwhich it was derived; This"iiiatpfouint `The invention rela s to the production Aoi.' Vof-inter'est to brewers of ales and beers; andin- 5 malto-dextrine from corn syrup, or from the used togreat advantage in the bekin'ginfdustry. 5

Syrups of other grains, such for instance, as rice, As is well known, corn syrupis produced from barley, rye 'and wheat. y starch by a process vtermed ,hy'dro'lysis".,y It Malte-dextrine, variously manufactured, has this hydrolysisA is carried through Ato completion,

" long been used in `manyiirts. Its use in certain a final product is dextrose. Ii'the action is in- I arts has, however, often been curtailed by the 'terru`pted, thesyrup is obtained. The syrup, al- 1o costliness or inconvenienceof the processes and ways containsadarge amountof water, com-1 apparatus by which it has heretofore been made; monly from 17% to 22%,- vdependant upon the andv by an amount of moisture in the article it stage t0 which the hydrolysis iS eerriedvIt also self which has rendered'it sticky, lumpy, inconcontains 'other' substances which would be de venienttohandle, and unsuitable for certain uses leterious in their effects upon a beer or other 45-syrups, of pulverized orjgranulated malto-dex Shows afs follOWS 50 simplelsugarsintovwhat are' termeddouble sugars,` Grape sugar'l and 81116688 unless subjected to adrying process. A malt liquor. An object of the invention is a process and C0111 Syrup ndll othero intended melt ldapparatus wherein there may be produced from Juncts n Syrup, form. `other than malto-dexti'ine. Syrups, 4 such as mentioned, a malto-dextrine must therefore, after being Shipped t0 a brewer! 20 which inay contain asy little as two percent, or. for use aS e malt adjunct, besilbjected lt the 20 less, of moisture, and which may be packed, brewery toanexpenslve and troublesome eokin'. shipped and stored as a stable, free-iiowing,dry, treatment it0 eliminate the Waite; 8nd other lm.- powdered or granulated, substance. n desirable substances therein.- Needless to say, An object of theinventionis theproduction o1' the Shipment over long vdistances 0f a material a dry, powdered or granulated malto-dextrine at. Such eS C0111 Syrup, having 20% 01' 0theill8e 25 lrelatively low oost, and ima minimum oi' time, by percentage of undesired water; and of eontaineirsA a process which is simple, and which assures forvthesame, adds'a high freight Charge tothe' uniformity andcertainty as to grade and charcost of'the malt-liquor.- Malto-dextrine, on the acter of. out-put; and by apparatus which is i -other'hendfmiiy be mede from the com or brewsimpleand easily operable by relatively unskilled "'erS 'Syrup at theplaee Wherethe lattereis niade, 30 A labor, requires but littie space, and is oiea'nin' its 'and 1f made according t0 the present lm'etlon j operation. l j in the forni oi' a light, dry, powdered, or granu- -I am aware that certain features oi' the appara- 'e lated 01' CIySteliZed, 'Subitnee the freight Y tus are, of themselves, old in other uses and con- Charges thel'eellv Will be reduced twenty Percent.

nec ons; and, as tothe apparatus,'therefre,` the e- It'isheref that the value of the present inven- $6 invention resides in the seIeotiOmarr'angmnt tion best expresses itself: for.' 1f the malto-dex and combination ,of these oid eiementsand other trifle is .a Stickyi lumpy, 0r not readily workable elements. whereby to' produce' and treat interforni,` or if its cost of manufacture, as by the old mediato products according l'tov the stepsor one processes, counterbelances the costi 0f shipment. 40 continuous process, leading to the ummate prodand treatment at the brewery of the 'other ma- 4o uct.-v j y` 1 l i terlals'usuable as malt adjuncts, then those other or 'purposes of illustration," the4 inyentionis g materials will Continue t0 beused by brewers? .and

here more particularly described in its applica- J this despite the fact that thev` extract lvalues of tion to the production, from'corn andv brewers the Several Substances. for" bl'eWinS Durme 'APer cent trine 1for use jas a malt adjunct in the brewing of y beer, ale',- stout, porter, oto.` Malto-dsxtrine i i f In the manufactureofmalto-dextrine -froin Cornfgrits end-akewheat f f..- l such syrups therel vis ya.l condensation of ce1-tam Malt oi' average quallty f' is .dextrosegl'It follows, therefore, thatj as a The'"malto-de'irtxfine, "madel,facifirciing tofthe 55 f'.,1L--xi... present invention, 98% pure extract, is ready to be poured into the brew in dry powdered or crystaline form. The 2% water is not objectionable to the brew. As low as 4% or 5%, however, 5 would have caused gumming and lumping, and

have created unworkable conditions bypreventing pouring and` proper distribution of the substance'in'the. brew; except' at thecost-v 'offjadditional 'treatment and "labor.A Hence it is that vital steps of the process hereinafter described are concerned with securing a malto-dextrine which is dry to the order lof 98%,andlof main taining it at this degree of dryness vthroughout the process of grinding and powdering,

The term fmalto-dextrine is well understood 'in the arts. It is to be found, over the years, in any quantity of literature relating to brewing, baking, candy making, fibre-filling, etc. It is also well understood that while the constituents of malto-dextrine may be the same, the relative percentages-of these` constituents may vary widely, according to the `.intended use of the malto- -dextrina For instance, in the brewing art, the relative percentages of .the constituents of the 25 malto-dextrinewillbe different `for a high fermentable, intended for use in the manufacture of ale from a low fermentable intended for use for the manufacture of beer of low alcholic content. Below are actual chemical analyses made of high fermentable and "low fermentable" malto-dextrines produced by the process of the present invention. for brewing purposes.

The relative percentages of the constituents of f the malto-dextrine will be determined by the particular syrup used, by the length of time of boiling, and by the degree of temperature and vacuum maintained in the boiler. All of these de- 50 terminations, however, are well within the province of one skilled in the a Below are the analyses of brewers syrups from which the above high .and low fermentable maltodextrines were obtained by the present invention.

Corn syrup will ordinarily show an analysis intermediate those of the above two brewers syrups.

70 A feature of the invention is a step, and means,

whereby preliminary to the removal of the maltodextrine from the boiler in dry viscous form, and to permit or facilitate such removal, the vacuum in the boiler is broken by inlet of air which 75 has been pre-conditioned in such manner that it.

' pre-conditioning or is dry to a point where contact thereof with the hot malto-dextrine will not raise the moisture content of the latter above approximately two percent. ly 21/2 percent of moisture in the malto-dextrine on its removal from the boiler, it could not readily be broken up for the subsequent grinding and pulverizing steps of the process; y t

After the malto-dextrin has' beenY 4removed from the boiler, it is broken into chunks of considerable size preliminary to being fed to the grinder. A further feature of the invention is a drying of the air in .which the malto-dextrine is so broken and fed to the grinder, to the end that no moisture may be formed inthe latter, and no heat created therein which might'tend to melt or gum the substance.

Other vfeatures and objects of the invention will more fully appear upon reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a combined grinding and loading apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a vacuum boiler an means for removing excess moisture and vaporizable by-products from the grain syrup..

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a vacuum boiler 5. Within the same, from top to bottom, is shown an extensive heating coil system 6. This system is provided with suitable inlet and outlet lines, (not shown), but indicated at 6a and 6b; and after the syrup has been introducedl into the boiler, it is boiled by steam passing through `this system at a high pressure, preferably of the order of 120 pounds, ultimately to raise the temperature of the syrup content to about 215 C. in a vacuum of about 28 inches. The

` vacuum, starting at zero, is gradually raised to about 15 inches, allowed to remain at this point for about lve or seven minutes, and then gradually raised to 28 or 29 inches; the entire boiling operation taking from 2U to 30 minutes, according to the material being Worked, and the temperature and vacuum employed. As the water and other vaporizable ingredients are converted to vapor, the latter passes from the boiler by a pipe 9, to a condenser l I, where it is liquefied, and

If there were more than approximatethe liquid passes thence to a pump I0 which discharges it to any suitable collecting receptacle.

When the boiling step of the process has been completed. the malto-dextrine, now pure except 'for an insignificant amount of moisture, remains at the bottom of the boiler in viscous, liquid condition ready to be drawn out and cast into blocks or sheets for breaking and grinding after it has hardened or set. To permit or facilitate such removal from the boiler, the vacuum in the latter is first broken, that is to say, air is admitted to the boiler. If, however, atmospheric air were admitted to the boiler, an undesirable amount of moisture would condens therefrom on contact of the air with thehot malto-dextrine, and this lmoisture would be absorbed by the malto-dextrine. If the malto-dextrine were thus permitted to attain a moisture content of even 41/2 percent,

not only would it be impaired as to quality, butit would not be suiliciently brittle for easy breaking and grinding. Hence the air to be admitted to break the vacuum is pre-conditioned, that is to say, no objectionable deposit of water ontothe maltodextrine. In Fig. 2 an air line I2, from any suitable alr drying apparatus (not shown) enters the top 'l of the boiler. A valve I2 cuts off this line during the boiling operation, but is opened it is dryed to a point where it can make to pass .thence into a Klondike or pipewhich is connected air-tight with a hopper I3 in a chanri.y This hopper is connected, air-tight, to a chute I4 4for feeding the material .toa mill I5. VThe broken meteriai is prevented from flowing too fast to the mill by means of a plate or otherv valve, or4 l regulating slidel I6 which extends throughpne` side of the hopper, over the upper end of the ber or .compartment below the floor l I3'.

chute.

The lower end ofthe chut I4 is unitary-or.-

hasv an air-tight connection with the housing I8 of the mill, and the bottom wall of this housingv is a screen. I 9, .through which the vground material may be screened. Interchangeable screens may be used according to the e granules to be passed therethrough from the mill.

The grinder or mill indicated in the drawings is, of itself, not new .with this invention. vIt has been selectedas a suitable element for carrying out one step of the invention. It is the soy-called Humdinger mill, manufactured by J. B.,Sed berry of Utica, New York; and so will not be described in detail. Sumcehere to say that the grinding head comprises a system of plates 28 set to and spaced apart on a motor driven shaft 2I Through these plates passes a system of bolts or rods 24. Between-adjacent plateshammers 22 are set on the rods 24. The hammers are radially slotted at 23 to permit of their radially in-andout movement on the rods 24. Under the action of centrifugal force they move radially outward toward the wall of the housing I8. They may, however,- yield radially inward upon contact with the chunks of material being ground. 'I'he hammers are Yset in pairs; those of -the first pair being set at opposite ends of the shaft, and the aligned hammers of the other pairs being progressively set closer together as they are stepped around the head. 'I'he material is thus fed and wedged toward the center of the shaft whilev at the same time being broken between the ends of the hammers and the wall of the housing. The ends oi' the hammers are'Jstepped as at 25 to present a plurality -of grinding teeth.

As the material is ground, it passes by gravity through the screen, into a hopper 2,8 which is set, air-tight, to vthe housing I8 by flanges 28a. Below the screen, the hopper 28 discharges by gravity into a chute 21, which in turn discharges by gravity into an expansion chamber 28. all connections being air-tight. This gravityy feed is assured by location ofthe expansion chamber 28 and loadingapparatus on a floor below that on which the grinder is located. The separating floor is indicated at 28'.

This expansion chamber and loading receptacle is formed with downwardly inclined sides 28 and 30, and is provided with upwardly converging walls 3| and 32. The upper part of the receptacle is considerable wider than the lower part thereof, and as the material is discharged in the predetermined granulated condition from the grinder, it will produce a dust in the receptacle which will expand in the upper part of the latter.

desired size of the' Any air"remain`ing in the" granulated material will alsov expand and under. pressure produced" I by the dust can be permitted to escape to the at-i" dmosphere by means of vent ports or nipples 33 and 34, located on opposite sides of the receptacle y28.

Qn either or both of ,these nipples porous fabric dust collecting and be mounted. When it -is not desired to use such va bag, 4a `metal or other cover 36 may be placedv 5 over the nipple.

The bottom of the receptaclfrs discharges,

breather bags 35' may again by. gravity, into the loading 'conduits 36 and 31, which are connected, air-rtight, `with the re` duced lower end 'of the receptacle.'l

`or flller .tubes 3.6 and 31 are provided with 1 iex-` ible portions 36h and 36c,'te`r'minating in 'tapered `parts 38 and 39. A flow control slide or valve 40 y.is also provided for .each lle'r tube.

'Ihe material is loaded into shipping containers- 14| and, .to exclude air from these containers they may have friction covers '42 forced into the tops thereof. Filler openings'43 are provided in the The.' conduit l `covers for 4reception ofthe tapered end pieces 38 and 39 of theV conduits.

By reason of the fact Athat duringandL after 'the breaking of the material, it can contact with no air that has not been prefconditioned, ltering operations` are not necessary. The'materlal settles slowly but regularly in the chamber 30, and there is no` tendency for it again to be pickedv up by airy currents. The openings 33 provide for exit of all air entering with the material through lhopper I3; land by the bags .35 all iiying material that does not Asettle to 30, may be recovered.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the invention is characterized by the` protection of the bottom of chamber the material from exposure to the atmosphere, at

all stages of the process; and by the almost corn-v plete elimination zof even the preconditioned air in the later steps of the process. lConsonant with lthis guiding purpose, it will be seen that an ex- -tensive gravity system, involving threeviioorsof Y a building, has been substituted for the blower feed ordinarily vemployed in connection with the so-called Humdinger mill, for feeding the matex-iai into and through the mill. The nature of the material kbeing handled is such that the air of a blower feed. even if pre-conditioned so as to be dry, would in the grinding operation be so heated as to cause softening and melting of the material.

I claim; 1. A process of manufacturing malto-dextrine from corn or other grainy syrups, consisting in boiling the syrup to a temperature of the order of 215 C. in a partial vacuum of the 'order of 28 inches, while conducting oif the vaporizable substances of the syrup until the remaining maltodextrine is pure except for a water-content of the order of 2% or less, causing such maltodextrine to set and harden under conditions which preclude appreciable accretion of water content, breaking the same into chunks in a dry-air compartment, and from such compartment feeding the same by gravity, and' without the admission of air other than such dry air as may incidentally accompany the chunks, into a grinding chamber from which moisture is excluded,

` there granulating the chunks in the absence 'of moisture, and by gravity feed, with the exclusion l of moisture, delivering the malto-dextrine in granulated form to containers therefor.

2. A process of manufacturing malto-dextrine from orn or other grain syrups, consisting in boiling the syrup to a temperature of the order of 215 C. in a partial vacuum ofthe order of 28 inches, while conducting oif the vaporizable substances of the syrup until the remaining maltodextrine is pure except for a water content of the order of 2% dextrine to set and harden under conditions which preclude appreciable accretion of water content, breaking the same into chunks in a dry-air compartment, and from such compartment feeding the same without the admission of air other than such dry air as may incidentally accompany the chunks, into a grinding chamber from which moisture is excluded, there granulating the chunks in the absence of moisture, and with the exclusion of moisture delivering the malto-dextrine in granulated form to containers therefor.

3. A process of manufacturing malto-dextrine from cornor other grain`syrups, consisting in boiling the syrup in a partial vacuum for a time and at a temperature sufficient to deposit maltodextrine, substantially pure except for ,a water content of the order of 2% or less, withdrawing the vaporizable substances of the syrup, breaking the vacuum by admission of dry air to the boiler for removal of the malto-dextrine in the purity in which it was deposited, causing the same to set and harden under conditions which preclude appreciable accretion of water content, and breaking and granulating the same in the absence of moisture.

4. A process of reducing blocks orl sheets of malto-dextrine, which is substantially pure except for a water content of the order of 2% or less, to a granulated form of substantially the same purity, consisting of breaking the same into chunks in dry air, feeding the chunks by gravity, and without the admission of air other than such dry air as may incidentally accompany the chunks, into a grinding chamber l'from which moisture is excluded, there granulating the chunks in the absence of moisture and with the expulsion of dry air which has accompanied the chunks, and by further gravity feed, with the exclusion of moisture, delivering the maltodextrine in granulated form to containers therefor.

5. A process of reducing blocks or sheets of malto-dextrine, which is substantially pure except for a water content of the order of 2% or less, to a granulated form of substantially the same purity, consisting of breaking the same into chunks in dry air, feeding the and without the admission of air other than such dry air as may incidentally accompany the chunks, into a grindmg 4chamber' from which moisture is excluded, there granulating the chunks in the absence of moisture, and with.

the exclusion of moisture delivering the maltodextrine in granulated form to containers therefor.

6. Apparatus for the manufacture of maltocomprising means for reducing the syrup to viscous maltodextrine, dry to a water content of the order of two percent' or less, and means for transforming said viscous material into free owing, powdered or granulated, malto-de trine of the dryness aforesaid; said means for reducing the syrup to viscous malto-dextrine comprising an air-tight evaporating chamber, an outlet at the upper part thereof for vapors, means in connection with said outlet for gradually reducing the pressure in said chamber during evaporation, from atmosor less, causing such maltochunks by gravity,

pheric pressure to a vacuum of the order of 28 inches, a steam coil system in said chamber of a capacity and area suiiicient to take steam of a pressure of the orderof 120 pounds and to heat and maintain the syrup content of said chamber at a temperature ofthe order of 215 degrees C. under the aforesaid vacuum conditions, a normally closed connection from said chamber to a source of dry air, and a valve in said connection for opening the connection to break the vacuum in the chamber, to permit removal of the content thereof.

7. Apparatus for the manufacture of maltodextrine from corn and other Syrups, comprising means for reducing the syrup to viscous maltodextrine, dry to a water content of the order of two percent or less, and means for transforming said viscous material into free flowing, powdered or granulated, malto-dextrine of the dryness aforesaid; said means for transforming the viscouse material into a powder or granulated state comprising a dry air chamber wherein castings of said viscous material may be broken into chunks, a grinding chamber below and in airtight connection with said breaking chamber, a grinder in said lower chamb means for directing a gravity feed to the inder'of chunks of the broken material from e breaking chamber, an expansion chamber belo said grinding chamber in air-tight connection with the latter, and means for directing a gravity feed of the material through and from the grinding chamber to the expansion chamber; said grinding and expansion chambers being air-tight against inlet of air thereto, except from the breaking chamber, during the operation of the grinder.

8. Apparatus for the manufacture of maltodextrine from corn and other Syrups consisting of means for reducing the syrup dextrine, dry to a water content of the order of two percent or less, and means for transforming said viscous material into free flowing, powdered or granulated, malto-dextrine of the dryness aforesaid; said reducing and transforming means comprising an air-tight evaporating chamber, an outlet at the upper part thereof for vapors, means in connection with said outlet for gradually reducing the pressure in said chamber during evaporation from atmospheric pressure to a vacuum of the order of 28 inches, a steam coil system in said chamber of a capacity Iand area sufficient to take steam of a pressure of the order of 120 pounds and to heat and maintain the4 syrup content of said chamber at a temperature of the order of 215 degrees C. under the aforesaid vacuum conditions, said chamber having a port ,through which viscous state the malto-dextrine formed by evaporation, a chamber for reception of castings of said viscous material, dry atmosphere in said receiving chamber, a grinding chamber below and in air-tight connection with said receiving chamber, a grinder in said lower chamber, means for directing a gravity feed tothe. grinder of malto-dextrine castings from the receiving chamber, an expansion chamber below the grinding chamber, in air-tight connection with the latter, and means for directing a gravity feed of the material through and from the grinding chamber to the expansion chamber; said grinding and expansion chambers being tight against inlet of air thereto, except from the receiving chamber.

LOUIS N. HARTOG.

may be removed in to viscous malto- 

